Good Friday DIY horror as power tool slashes Northampton man's throat

After a year like no other, Simon Glover remembers his Good Friday like no other — the one when he cut his throat on a power tool while doing DIY at his Northampton home.

The 54-year-old grandfather lived to tell the tale thanks to the quick response and expertise of a critical care crew from Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.

They treated him at the scene and flew him to Coventry hospital for life-saving surgery.

Simon remembered: “The cut from the angle-grinder blade was only two millimetres away from my main artery and I was bleeding heavily.

"If the local air ambulance hadn’t got there, I would probably have died.”

“It really is the difference between life and death and I and countless other former patients are walking, breathing proof of this.”

Simon was using a diamond-tipped angle grinder to remove bricks and make a window bigger in 2013.

As he worked his way up from the windowsill, the blade got wedged in the brick, spun out of Simon’s hand and caught his face, neck, arm and chest as it fell onto the floor.

His shocking injuries included cuts to his windpipe, ligaments and muscles in his neck.

Even when he got to hospital, he was not out of the woods.

Simon added: “All of a sudden I realised that I couldn’t breathe and as I choked, blood filled my oxygen mask. My lungs were also filling up with blood.

"All I could see were ten or so medical staff looking very worried. They grabbed the trolley and rushed me straight to the operating theatre.”

“If I had been transferred in a land ambulance and this had happened, I might not have survived. My friends call me miracle man because I did."

The flight to Coventry took just 22 minutes instead of 40 by road.

After surgery to reconstruct his windpipe, he was put into an induced coma for five days — yet, amazingly, discharged the following week and was back at work after a fortnight's rest.

The anniversary of his local air ambulance mission is a time of reflection, though.

Simon added: “Since they saved my life, I have celebrated my 50th birthday, my 30th wedding anniversary and welcomed another six wonderful grandchildren into my world.

"Whenever I see the local air ambulance fly over, I always wave and thank the people that donate to keep them flying - because without them I would not have got to the hospital alive.

“This amazing service is run by a charity and receives no government funding. It relies on fundraising and donations to remain operational so it is up to us all to support them if possible, so they can carry on saving lives."

The charity needs public support now more than ever as it recently launched two new state-of-the-art AgustaWestland 109 helicopters with a top speed of 185mph — the fastest civilian choppers available.

Each of their 1,800 missions a year, which routinely carry senior doctors and consultants on board, costs around £1,700 yet the service — which includes the Children’s Air Ambulance — gets no government funding.

■ Anyone wishing to support the lifesaving charity can visit www.theairambulanceservice.org.uk or call 0300 3045 999.